History of Siam Thai

The history of Siam Thai can be traced back to Paleolithic era. In earlier times, the land of Thailand was known as Siam Thai. But it was only after May 11, 1949 the country is renamed as "Prathet Thai" or "Thailand", since then the country is known as Thailand throughout the world. According to history of Thailand, the ancestors had their roots in Southern china where they have originated some 4,500 years ago. Under the pressure from china they moved towards southward through Burma down to the Indo-Chinese peninsula, the "Thai Noi" then established their capital in Sukhothai, the northern province of Thailand.

With the discovery of various instruments and artifacts at the village of Ban Chiang in nong Han district of northeastern province of Udon Thani, different conflicting opinions and theories of the origin of Siam Thai have raised. We can say that the theory of origin or the history of Siam Thai or people has changed. It appears that the Thais might have first settled down here in Thailand and later scattered or flourished to different parts of Asia even in some parts of China.

In the Siam Thai history, it has also been believed that Thais were originally of Austronesian rather than Mongoloid. And by the beginning of the 13th century the Thais had already resided within the Southeast Asian main-land with Sokhothai as the first kingdom. In the history of Siam Thai the Sukhothai era marked a period of enormous cultural development. Under the ruled of King Ramkhamhaeng from 1275 to 1315, the land of Sukhothai was prospering. By 1350, a new dynasty led by King Ramathibodi I (Uthong) established a new capital at Ayutthaya.

Under the ruled of King Borommaracha I in 1378, Sukhothai was subdued to become a tributary state of Ayutthaya. The Ayutthaya kingdom still survived various wars with Burma but defeated during the invasion of Burma in 1767. After the defeat, the Thais led by King Taksin retreated south and established another capital at Thon Buri. On his death in 1782, the King was succeeded by King Phra Buddha Yodfah Chulaloke (Rama I) who moved the capital across the river to the present location in Bangkok as Thon Buri was too vulnerable to Burmese attack. The King founded the Chakri dynasty which rules the country to the present day. This precisely reveals the history of Siam Thai.